


Maiden's Kiss

by Alantie



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Frog!Cloud, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25522426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alantie/pseuds/Alantie
Summary: The facts were simple. Cloud was a frog, and she was a maiden who could potentially break the spell that he’d been under for the past three days. It was worth a shot, or at least offering him the choice.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 24
Kudos: 116





	Maiden's Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> This fic could take place in either the OG or the Remake verse, it fits either way. Set during the time they're traveling between Kalm and Junon.

“Bad news,” Barret said grimly as he poked through the bag of healing supplies. “We’re completely out of Maiden’s Kiss.”

“What?” Tifa said in dismay, grabbing the bag from him to dig through it herself, scattering potions and ethers across the ground. “We can’t be – we bought plenty at the last town! We can’t possibly have used them all!”

Aerith watched in dismay, her heart sinking like a heavy stone in her chest. Cloud perched on her knee croaked despondently, and she cringed, biting her lip even as she gave him a reassuring pat on the head.

Despite everyone’s insistence otherwise, she couldn’t help but feel that the whole situation was her fault. She had been so focused on fighting the monster in front of her that she hadn’t seen the one coming at her unprotected back. But Cloud had seen and had only time to dart between her and the monster to intercept the attack. Fortunately, it hadn’t been a deadly strike, but unfortunately it had turned Cloud into a frog. Aerith had whirled immediately to unleash a powerful magic attack on the creature, reducing it to a slimy puddle, but that hadn’t changed the fact that Cloud was still a very miserable frog. She’d thought it would be a simple enough fix, after all they were always purchasing a variety of remedies at every town, but after traveling through the boggy land for nearly a week they’d depleted their stash of Maiden’s Kiss and none of their materia had yet reached a level to be able to remove it.

“What do we do now?” Aerith whispered, and the group exchanged strained glances.

After a pause, Barret squared his shoulders, taking the lead. “All right, here’s the plan. . .”

Of course, Cloud hadn’t liked the plan, as he’d made clear with loud croaks, shaking his head vehemently in protest. But in the end, it was really the only plan that made sense. With Cloud out of commission and Aerith protecting him – much to his dismay – they were down their best fighter and their best mage. So they’d decided to split up, Barret and Tifa going ahead to take a more dangerous but shorter route to the nearest town while Aerith, Cloud, and Red waited behind for them to return with the Maiden’s Kiss remedy.

Cloud glared at Barret who glared right back at him. “What choice do we have?” he growled. “Red should be able to protect Aerith well enough on his own until we get back –“

“I’ll have you know that I can protect myself just fine –“ Aerith began but Cloud made an angry buzzing noise and she frowned. “That’s your opinion, mister,” she said sternly and he only stared at her grumpily.

Tifa coughed discreetly, but smiled at Aerith and then at Cloud. “Don’t worry, we should be able to be there and back in just a few days. This spot’s relatively safe, and Aerith will cast barrier spells around the camp to keep out enemies, so it should be just fine as long as you lay low.”

Cloud gave her a baleful look and she reached out to pat his head but he dodged out of the way, tumbling back into the folds of Aerith’s pink skirt.

“Well, _fine,”_ Tifa huffed, shaking her head. “All right, we’re off then!”

That had been two days ago.

The more time that passed, the grumpier and more morose Cloud became, not that Aerith could really blame him. She knew he was miserable, sensed it with that strange ability of hers that allowed her to connect with all living creatures. But he didn’t complain, just hunched in the protective basket of her skirts, on her shoulder, or sometimes next to her boot, still and squat, and so very unhappy.

It was unbearable, every bit of despair in him wrenching her heart. The unhappier he became, the guiltier and more miserable she felt.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered to him on the evening of the third day, her shoulders hunching dejectedly. “This is all my fault.”

Cloud looked up at her, giving a sharp ribbit, and shake of his head.

“Cloud’s right,” Red said gravely from his spot beside the fire where he’d been dozing. “It was an unfortunate accident, nothing more. It could have happened to any of us.”

She wished she could believe him, but she should have been paying better attention, shouldn’t have been so careless. It must have shone on her face because Cloud hopped up to her knee, giving her his best sharp stare that somehow still was effective even in frog form. He croaked at her again, managing somehow to sound stern. A faint smile tugged at her lips as she lifted her free hand to lightly pat his head. He blinked up at her at the touch, but made no move to stop her or avoid the caress, which made her wonder. Cloud was never a touchy feely person, but he hadn’t once tried to shy away from her light gentle touches since he’d been transformed. She wondered if it perhaps helped him to remember what it was like to be human somehow, if it was a comfort. She sighed heavily, but another stern croak made her pause, giving Cloud a rueful smile.

“All right, all right. I’ll try to stop brooding about it. I just wish. . . I wish I could fix this.”

“Perhaps you could.”

Red’s voice drew her attention, and she glanced at him, her eyebrows raised. “Oh?”

His single eye opened a slit, tone low and thoughtful. “You know; the Maiden’s Kiss is only a remedy created to take the place of the real thing.”

Aerith blinked, her brow furrowing as she stared at him. “What do you mean?”

The red furred creature shifted, lifting his head to study her. “Well, it’s in the name – Maiden’s Kiss. The frog spell was originally broken by maidens kissing the victims. A rather odd quirk in the spell, but it was a reliable method. Of course, it is rather inconvenient – you can’t bring a maiden along on every adventure on the off chance that you might get turned into a frog, it’s not practical. So some scientists and mages got together to create a potion that imitated the real thing. Hence the name – Maiden’s Kiss.” He nodded his head toward Cloud. “The old-fashioned remedy should work the same, if you care to test it.”

It took her a moment to realize what Red was getting at, and she felt her cheeks flush. “Oh- _oh_ ,” she said faintly glancing at Cloud who seemed to be sitting awfully stiffly for a frog. “You think it would – that I could break the spell if I . . . kissed him?”

Red shrugged, putting his head back down on his paws. “It couldn’t hurt to try.” He huffed a soft sigh, then his eye closed, seeming to go to sleep.

She stared at him incredulously for a long moment before turning her attention back to Cloud. He blinked at her but didn’t move, giving no sign as to what he thought of the conversation. She bit her lip, mind racing as she considered. The facts were simple. Cloud was a frog, and she was a maiden who could potentially break the spell that he’d been under for the past three days. It was worth a shot, or at least offering him the choice.

“Well, what do you think?” she asked him. “Do you want to keep waiting for Barret and Tifa, or do you want to give Red’s suggestion a try? Like he said, it couldn’t hurt.”

He stared at her making no sound or movement, and she sighed.

“Cloud, it’s not that hard of a choice to answer. Ribbit once for me to try or twice to wait for the others.”

His eyelids half lowered and he stared at her reproachfully, his throat inflating in a frustrated croak that certainly wasn’t the ribbits she’d requested. For as expressive as he could be as a frog, there were certain subtleties that simply couldn’t be communicated via stares and the vocal ranges of a frog’s croak. Something was troubling him, something that a croak couldn’t convey the complexities of. Picking him up despite his clear unhappiness, she brought him closer, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” Aerith asked softly, peering at him. “You don’t really want to stay a frog if you don’t have to, do you? I mean – we can at least try and if it doesn’t work you’re no worse off.”

Cloud hunched down in her cupped palms, avoiding her gaze, and her frown deepened, concern swirling through her. There was something bothering him, that much was clear, but he either didn’t know how to communicate it or didn’t want to.

“Hey,” she coaxed. “What is it? If there’s something wrong, tell me, and we’ll work it out. There’s no reason for you to be a frog if I can fix this for you. So tell me what the problem is.”

For a moment Cloud remained still, then he turned his doleful gaze on Red. Aerith followed his stare, and then understood. He didn’t want anyone else to hear. Well, that was easy enough to solve. She stood, chirping to Red that they were going for a walk down by the riverbank and set off, Cloud cupped carefully in her hands. She picked her way carefully along until she found a wide flat rock near the water to sit on among the thick waving cattails. The noise of the river would make her normal speaking voice hard to hear for anyone nearby even for Red’s sharp ears, so there was no danger of being overheard. Plopping down, she sat cross-legged, placing Cloud in the wide sweep of her skirt. He bounced there for a moment before settling, blinking up at her.

“Okay, it’s just you and me now,” she told him seriously. “So what’s this all about? You don’t really want to stay a frog until Tifa and Barret get back, do you?”

There was a moment’s pause, then he shook his head glumly.

Of course, he didn’t, she knew he’d been miserable since the spell had been cast though he hadn’t complained. Who would want to be a frog after all? But then that left one other direction to go, and that gave her pause since it also seemed unlikely, but then perhaps she presumed too much.

“Is it me?” she asked carefully. “You don’t want me to kiss you?”

His large eyes widened, and he shook his head vehemently side to side. A small smile touched her lips, but she was still puzzled by his strange behavior. Gently she reached out with one finger, running it lightly over the top of his head until he closed his eyes, content under her touch.

“Cloud, I don’t understand, if you don’t want to be a frog, and you don’t have a problem with me kissing you then what’s the problem?”

A single eye opened, and he huffed a sigh of frustration. She could practically see the wheels in his head turning, waiting patiently as he tried to find a way to communicate. He shifted under her hand and she moved it away, watching him expectantly.

He lifted one of his small front feet, tapping it against his wide frog lips, gestured at himself, then shook his head and her brow furrowed. He repeated the gesture again, and she struggled to make sense of it. Playing charades with a frog wasn’t easy or what she’d expected to be doing to try to puzzle out the mystery of Cloud’s reluctance.

“Kiss . . . you. . . no,” she said slowly, and he paused, shaking his head again.

He sat still for a moment, then tried again. This time he shook his head, held up one tiny webbed finger, then repeated the touch against his lips, then went through the segment again. Aerith pursed her lips, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of it.

“One kiss?” she said doubtfully, and he shook his head. “One. . . single. . . first . . .”

Cloud suddenly hopped and she blinked, surprised. “First?” she repeated, and he hopped in affirmation again. Pondering, she tried again to string it together. “No first kiss. . . you. . .?” He hopped again, and realization jolted through her of what he was trying to say. “No first kiss – you’ve never – you’ve never been kissed?”

She was sure if he were in human form he’d be beet red, but all he could do as a frog was duck his head to avoid her gaze, his whole squat body seeming to hunch dejectedly. Aerith’s lips parted as she stared at him, her voice soft.

“Oh, Cloud,” she murmured, reaching out to touch him with a gentle fingertip. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You know I’ve never either, if that’s what you’re worried about -”

Cloud croaked grumpily, shaking his head again, and she paused.

“Not ashamed? Then. . . what is it?”

Again a sharp gesture at himself, and she instantly understood. He’d never done this and for his first to be when he was a frog, to just have it to be saved, was likely not what he had in mind.

“Oh,” she said, her brows drawing together. 

He gave her a mournful look, then made to jump away, but she caught hold of him, drawing him carefully between her cupped hands and lifting him back up so she could look him directly in the eye.

“You listen to me, Cloud Strife,” she said sternly. “I know it’s probably not what you wanted your first kiss to be, but I’m not about to let you stay a frog just because you don’t want –“

He cut her off with a loud croak, then jabbed a finger at her and she blinked, baffled.

“Me? What about me?” 

A frustrated look, but he pointed at her, then held up his finger, touched his mouth, then gestured to himself and shook his head, his expression glum. For a moment she rolled the actions around in her mind trying to make sense of it, then said hesitantly, “It’s not just because it’d be yours, but mine too?” A slight nod, and her eyes widened. “You don’t want to because you’d think it would ruin it for me?” she said incredulously.

Those large eyes held hers, then dropped, and something warm and tender bloomed in her heart. He would rather stay a frog than ruin his first kiss, _her_ first kiss.

_Silly, sweet, ridiculous man._

Aerith took a slow breath, then said softly, “Hey. I think getting to kiss the guy who saved me from getting turned into a frog is pretty romantic.” Cloud made a strangled quiet ribbit in response, earning a smile from her. “What was it you said about us once? You save me, I save you? Isn’t it time for me to return the favor?”

Cloud was still giving her that dejected kicked frog look, and she sighed. There had to be a way to make him understand, to make him see what it was that she was trying to tell him.

“Cloud,” she said, her fingers lightly stroking from the top of his head and down his back, feeling him shiver in her hands. “I need you to listen. It’s really sweet that you’re that worried about this, that you’d rather stay a frog than mess anything up. But there’s something you need to know. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re a frog, dressed up as a girl or a moogle, or anything. Any kiss between us is still going to be special for me. You want to know why?”

He stared at her in bewilderment, giving his head a small shake, and her smile deepened with fond affection for his obliviousness as she brought him closer.

“Silly Cloud,” Aerith breathed softly. “It’s because it’s _you_.”

His large eyes widened impossibly father, throat fluttering with a tiny croak. Before he could fully process her words Aerith closed the distance between them, her dark lashed lids fluttering shut as she placed a light kiss on his cool lips.

There was a sudden dazzling flash of white light, and she fell backwards as Cloud leapt from her palm. A puff of smoke swirled around his form, and Aerith gasped, pushing herself up on her elbows as the light faded to reveal Cloud, whole and human and blessedly himself once more. He was sprawled on the ground in a pose similar to her own, staring at her with parted lips, and wide eyes, a faint flush across his cheeks.

A delighted smile broke over her face as she stared at him, joy and relief flooding her. “It worked! Cloud, it really –“

Before she could process what was happening Cloud was suddenly looming in her vision. She blinked, but before she could react his hands cupped her face, the leather of his gloves cool and smooth against her skin. His knees hit the ground on either side of her waist as he knelt over her. Her eyes widened at his sudden proximity, the words fading in her throat as he lowered his head, his lips pressing softly against hers.

A soft gasp escaped her as her eyes slid shut, her hands instinctively reaching out to grasp the front of his shirt to steady herself. Cloud’s lips brushed hers tentatively, the kiss tender and slightly awkward, but so indescribably perfect that tears pricked at her eyes. He kissed her as if she were something infinitely precious, one hand sliding to cradle the back of her head as he deepened the contact and she sank into it with a breathless whimper.

Suddenly he drew back, and Aerith’s eyes flew open to blink up at him in confusion. His eyes were wide, face crimson as he cringed back looking panicked.

“Sorry- I just – I shouldn’t have but I wanted you to have a real first kiss –“ he stammered, but before he could go any farther, Aerith reached up, pulling him back down to silence him with another kiss.

She felt the shudder that went through him, but he returned the kiss instantly, his arms coming around her to tug her closer against him. Their lips met again, and again, and again, brushing, lightly at first but growing more confident with each touch. Everything was a pleasant dizzying rush, warmth flooding her like rays of light as his hands moved over her back and down to her waist. Her arms were around him, one hand pressing between his shoulder blades to urge him closer while the other twined in the soft silken hair at the nape of his neck, tugging slightly. Cloud shuddered again in her arms, his breath coming out in a rasping gasp and she pulled back to look at him, suddenly worried that she was the one who had pushed things too far.

But before she could from words to ask, he captured her mouth again, tilting his head to deepen the contact. A small sound escaped her, lips parting beneath his, and then his tongue brushed against hers. She gasped, hand fisting in the fabric of his shirt, heat spiraling through her as she mimicked him and Cloud moaned, the sound like fire in her blood.

The world seemed to be spinning, and she felt Cloud’s fingers suddenly tugging at the ribbon in her hair. She broke away from the drugging press of his mouth to stammer out, “Cloud - my materia –“

But he’d remembered, catching it in his palm, setting both the materia and the ribbon on the ground beside them before he was running his fingers through her hair, ducking his head to press his lips against the curve of her neck. The contact sent a jolt through her and she arched into him. She felt his hands slide up her back as he pressed forward against her, urging her backwards until she was lying in the grass, his breath hot against her skin.

“Cloud,” Aerith gasped, her voice breathy and breathless, almost unrecognizable to her ears as she tugged lightly at his hair. “Cloud, please –“

She didn’t know what it was that she was asking for but his mouth found hers again, sweeping them both up again in the kiss. Each gasp, every moan and press of their lips flooded her heart until it felt as it were going to burst from the overwhelming intensity of it all. She wanted to drowned in him, never wanted to stop kissing him, feeling the surprising softness of his hair and the shifting of his muscles under her palm, or hearing the way he breathed her name, as if it were a prayer and a plea that she craved to answer.

Then out of the stillness, there was a soft huffing cough, breaking through the haze like a gush of icy water. They broke apart, gazes swinging towards Red sitting on the bank near them. His tail swished the air, his own gaze deliberately directed to a place to the side of them.

“I see that my suggestion worked,” he said dryly.

In an instant Cloud was up, and she immediately missed the warmth of him in the cool evening air. Still caught in the heady aftermath, it took Aerith a bit longer to push herself upright, glancing at Cloud who had taken a step away from her, his gaze averted, but not enough to hide the crimson staining his cheeks. She bit down on her lip as she looked up at him, uncertainty trickling through her. Did he regret what had happened? Had it been too much, too fast? She hadn’t thought so, but maybe it had been for him.

“It’s good to see you back, Cloud,” Red offered his tone delicate and mild. “I would suggest though as it is growing dark that it would be wise to come back to camp. The barrier spell needs to be renewed as well, Aerith, though if you prefer, I could manage to recast it.”

Aerith hoped that the growing twilight hid her flushed cheeks and kiss bruised lips though she knew that Red knew perfectly well what they had been doing before he’d interrupted them. She tried to run her fingers through her loose hair, certain it must be a mess from Cloud’s hands running through it. She gave up after a moment and reached for her materia and ribbon, curling them into her fist.

Then Cloud’s hand was suddenly in front of her, a silent offering and she took it gratefully, allowing him to tug her to her feet. He didn’t let go, hand still curled around hers, and when she looked up into his face, all her fears faded away at the intensity of his gaze on her. There was a softness in his eyes that she rarely saw, a tender vulnerability as he hesitantly brought his free hand up to touch her cheek. Her lips parted, and then there was another delicate cough, making Cloud drop her hand as if it burned him.

Red had gotten to his feet, watching them, and if she didn’t know any better she could have sworn he looked smug as he studied them. Her eyes narrowed slightly at him, but Red only swished his tail, the flame scattering embers like fireflies through the growing dark.

“Campsite, barrier spell, and dinner,” he said. “Come on now, don’t make me herd you along.”

He began walking up the riverbank and Aerith glanced at Cloud with a rueful smile, falling into step beside him as they followed. Red padded ahead of them, his tail lighting the way through the dusk. Above them the stars began to sparkle across the ombre navy and black of the sky, and Aerith reached her hand out to the side in invitation. Cloud took her hand his fingers curling securely around hers.

“I didn’t say it before,” he said in a low voice. “Thank you.”

Behind them, amongst the reeds of the river, the chorus of ribbits and croaks from the frogs began, and Aerith smiled.


End file.
